


you'll thank me

by tomdaya (tomdayas)



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M, i hate petermj they ruined my life, i wrote this in less than a day lmfao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 04:02:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11547090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomdayas/pseuds/tomdaya
Summary: a lot happened during the summer between sophomore and junior year. for peter it was probably the best summer of his life. and not just because he was able to swing around as spider-man all day.





	you'll thank me

**Author's Note:**

> okay this is my first fic that i'm actually posting and it ended up being over 12k words with basically zero plot?? hopefully there are no typos, and i know that michelle's last name isn't confirmed, but i just went with what most of the fandom's saying lmao

MAY

Peter Parker knows several things. For one, he knows how much of an asshole Flash can be. And the distance between Tatooine and Hoth. He even knows that Ned likes cutting his sandwiches into fours because it reminds him of his childhood. 

But when MJ comes over to their lunch table and plops down with an old paperback in one hand and a brown paper bag lunch in the other, he's not sure what to think. 

Ever since Liz left and MJ became the captain of the Decathlon team, she's been talking to him and Ned a lot more. Okay, so maybe not exactly talking, but she doesn't look away whenever they make eye contact in the hallway. Instead, she nods back, and on a good day, she might even let herself smile at him as she walks past.

But that doesn't mean she'd ever actually sit by them. Willingly. Except here she is, pulling out a sandwich and asking, more like telling, Ned to go buy her a water as she slides a dollar towards his friend. 

Ned glances over at Peter as if he wants to say something, but Peter can tell it would only be something along the lines of, "Dude..." as his eyes widen and his jaw drops. MJ doesn't do this kinda thing. She just - doesn't. If you asked Peter he might even be a little worried for her psyche. 

As soon as Ned grabs the dollar and stands to do what MJ asked, she squints at Peter, scrutinizing him. "What?"

Peter shakes his head, grabbing his own sandwich to give him something to do with his hands. "Nothing. Nothing." He smiles, hoping it doesn't come across as too awkward. 

"You look like someone shoved a hanger in your mouth." Okay. So maybe the smile was a little too uh - extreme.

He dims it down and shoves some of the sandwich in his mouth so he doesn't have to say anything else. It's not like he's afraid to embarrass himself in front of MJ because he's done it before - on multiple occasions he might add - but he's sorta afraid to embarrass himself in front of MJ.

There's a lot of things about her that both he and Ned find cool. Like her excessive wearing of black jeans even though it's almost the middle of May aka close to the end of their sophomore year. Or the way she's able to listen in on their conversation while also reading whatever book she's decided to bring that day. She's also really pretty, with the way some of her curls fall out of her bun or the way she yawns every day during their AP European History class. But Peter would rather fall flat on his face than admit that to himself.

"So, do you have any big, awesome plans for the summer?"

"No." He says way too quickly.

She quirks an eyebrow at him, so he swallows his food and repeats himself. "No, I don't. What about you?"

Shrugging, she steals a chip from his bag and shoves it in her mouth. "Not really. I have to go on a vacation with my mom for like a week and a half but other than that," she ends the sentence on another shrug and twists herself around. "Where's your friend? It doesn't take that long to get a bottle of water." 

"It's only been a couple minutes."

She quirks an eyebrow at him. "Exactly. I could have died by dehydration by now."

"Well you're not excessively sweating and you don't look dizzy so I'd say you're safe."

She rolls her eyes, "We're not even at practice right now. There's no need to show off your useless knowledge."

"Knowing the symptoms of dehydration isn't useless," he says. "If you forget to drink anything this summer while your nose is stuck in a book, I'll know and make sure your needs are satisfied."

She pauses in the middle of lifting her sandwich and stares, and wow he didn't mean for it to sound like that.

Thankfully, Ned comes back and saves his life, literally saves his life, and tosses the water bottle to MJ.

"Thanks." She says while still eyeing Peter. 

Ned pauses, looking back and forth between the two. "Okay, what happened, why does Peter look embarrassed? Did you say something?"

"No," she snorts. "Pretty sure that's just Parker's natural state at this point."

Ned starts laughing and Peter whips around to look at him, arms flying out, looking offended. Because, honestly, Ned was supposed to be on his side with this.

"What?" Ned asks, still laughing a little. "She said something funny so I laughed."

"The endorphins and dopamine are releasing from his brain caused by me making fun of you," MJ states, reaching into her bag to pull out a pen and her journal. "Hey, what do you know, you're not the only one with useless information floating through your brain." She smirks at him before scribbling something in her notebook.

After a while, Peter suspects that she's drawing him. Or Ned, but he's hoping it's him since she keeps glancing up at him every few minutes. He'd try to look if he wasn't afraid that she'd stab at his hand with her pen.

She stops suddenly and looks over at Ned. "What about you?"

Ned stops mid chew. "What?"

"Are you doing anything this summer? Any plans?"

"Um - my dad planned this trip at the beginning of August, but other than that," he trails off, not really knowing if he should add anything.

"Okay." She says with a nod. She doesn't say anything else, instead choosing to either read or listen to what Peter and Ned are talking about. But when they start talking about what Lego structure would be better to build on Saturday, she glances down at her book and doesn't look back up until the bell rings.

Lifting her bag, she mutters a quick goodbye before dumping her garbage in the trash and making her way out of the cafeteria. 

Peter's still not exactly sure what to make of it.

\---

So it wasn't a one-time thing. Every day for the rest of the year, which really isn't that long, she sits by Peter and Ned at lunch. Some days she sits quietly, reading her book or scribbling, but on others, she actually talks to them.

On one day, in particular, Peter actually manages to make her laugh. A full from-the-belly laugh and he swears it's one the best moments of his life. Maybe tied with Tony Stark offering him a role as an Avenger, but who knows.

The weeks pass and soon they're rushing around and worrying about finals when he finds himself with MJ during their free period, her reading off flash cards for him while he’s highlighting notes for her. He's more worried about finals this year than last, what with all the swinging around he does in his free time rather than studying.

"Okay," MJ mutters to herself, sliding the cards to the middle of the table. "Break time." 

Peter drops the highlighter and leans back, wincing as he stretches a little too far and feels a muscle twinge. Just getting thrown into a wall by two huge guys last night, no big deal.

"You okay, Parker?" MJ questions, eyeing him up and down.

"Fine," he replies, putting his arms back on the table and resting his chin on the top of them.

"Uh huh," she says, reaching into her bag and pulling out a bag of dry cereal. 

He silently questions her choice of snack, and she rolls her eyes. "Didn't have any chips this morning." He nods and reaches over, grabbing a handful before shoving it in his mouth.

A few weeks ago, she would've glared at him and made him spit it out in the garbage can. Now she just reaches in after he does, and doesn't say anything. He counts it as a win.

\---

On the last day of school, the classes that are lined up for finals aren't any that he has with MJ. 

Instead, the person he makes eye contact with the "I'm so screwed" look on his face is Ned. The difference between Ned and MJ is that Ned is wearing it too. 

As Peter bubbles in B for the seventh time in a row, he comes to the conclusion that he probably - no definitely should've been paying more attention to what he was studying with MJ in the library. 

It's not his fault, though, if the way she would pull her hair out of her bun just to put it up again distracted him. Or how she would breathe harshly through her nose whenever one of her pens ran out of ink. 

Really this is all MJ's fault. Not his.

He tries to think about the words she said, and different tricks she taught him to help, but all he can remember is the way her forehead wrinkled slightly when she couldn't figure out how to balance a certain equation. God, he was screwed.

The fourteen blank answers on his answer sheet shouted at him as the teacher notified them of having only five minutes left.

He looks over and Ned's already staring at him with wide eyes and a slight shake of his head. They were both screwed.

Peter goes down the answer sheet, answering four C's in a row, then two D's, six A's, one B, and another A. He sighs and leans back, nudging the test to the corner of his desk. Only three more minutes and he'll be free for the next three months.

The only thing he's not looking forward to is not seeing MJ for those said three months. She hasn't said anything about hanging out outside of school, and he isn’t about to ask her himself. 

When the bell finally rings, students start picking up their bags and rushing towards the door. Ned comes over and says, "Dude -"

"I know." He lifts his bag on his shoulder. "At this point, I'm just praying that May won't kill me for the solid C I’m gonna get in this class."

They make their way out of the classroom and Ned hoists his bag on his shoulders some more, keeping in step with Peter. "So are you gonna tell MJ before we go or are you betting on radio silence for these three months?"

"Tell her what?" He skirts past a couple girls crying at their locker as if hanging out this summer was an impossibility.

"Tell her you like her, dumbass." He shakes his head, laughing as Peter whips around to the side to look at him. 

"What?"

"Oh, c'mon, you seriously can't tell me you don't. You stared at her like every day in lunch."

"Not... every day..." Peter says as he starts walking again.

"Either way it was obvious," Ned snorts. 

Peter glares at him. "Anyway, no, I'm not. There's no reason to, she'd probably laugh at me. Or punch me. Or both." 

They stop at Peter's locker and wait for the school to clear out so he can grab the extra web fluid he has hidden. They're just about to grab it and go when they hear a voice.

"What are you two losers still doing here?"

They both turn and see MJ walking towards them, notebook in hand and bag over her shoulder. 

"Nothing." They say in unison. MJ squints at them and before she can say anything Peter beats her to it. "What are you doing here?"

"Had to talk to Mrs. Haller about taking an extra class this summer so I don't have to take it junior year."

"Oh," Peter says. "Are you?" 

"Probably not. It's in the middle of my supposed to happen vacation so."

Peter and Ned nod. "True." 

She starts scrutinizing them. "Are you guys alright?" 

"Yep." They both say.

"Okay..." She draws out. "Well, are you guys doing anything this Saturday? Not that I want to hang out or anything, but I figured we could see that Superbad remake. Heard it was supposed to be really bad, and I don't feel like going alone."

Ned beats Peter to it. "I'm gonna be busy, but Peter isn't. He can see it with you." 

Peter doesn't have the chance to glare at his best friend because he hears MJ say, "Yeah?" 

Peter glances over at her. "I would have to double check with May, but yeah. That should work." 

"Okay." She starts walking past them, and they turn with her staring at the steps she takes. "Promise me you guys won't be this weird over the summer." She demands, walking backward now.

"Promise," Ned replies.

She slows, coming to a stop. "Peter?"

He doesn't say anything until Ned elbows him in the side. "Oh, uh, yeah. Promise."

She nods before turning around, and neither of them moves until she's around the corner.

"I can't believe you did that!" Peter exclaims, lifting the lockers to grab at the fluid before shoving it in his bag.

"Uhhh, I didn't hear a thank you?" Ned says, two fingers pressed to the back of his ear. "Nope, I just hear complaints. That's weird." 

"Why would I thank you for that? Now I'm gonna have to -"

"Basically go on a date with MJ." Ned is looking at him like he's being stupid.

"She didn't say it was a date."

"It's basically a date," Ned argues. "Even if it isn't, this is setting you up for a good summer. I know I'm great and all, but there's only so many Lego build sets I can buy before my parents yell at me about finances and bills." 

Peter can feel his eyes roll as they make their way out of the school. 

"You'll thank me by the end of the summer!” Ned yells to his friend as they separate into different paths. “I guarantee it!"

JUNE

Telling Aunt May that he was going to the movies with a friend this Saturday was easy. When he mentioned it was MJ, that's when things got sort of complicated.

“MJ?” She asked. “The captain of the Decathlon team?”

“Yeah.”

She smirked. “And you're sure this movie date is as friends. Not anything more?”

“Positive,” he says.

“Okay, well, invite her over for dinner before the movie. I’d like to meet her.”

“Aunt May that's really not -”

“We're having spaghetti. Here's to hoping I don't make too much.” She has her fingers crossed before she waves her hands towards his room. “Go. Ask.”

He tilts his head back and groans as he walks through his doorway towards his desk, picking his phone up. It's only when he has his phone unlocked does he realize he doesn't have her number. He figures that Ned doesn't either. 

He glances over at his computer and tries not to sigh at the last resort he’s gonna have to resort to. He logs onto his Facebook which really, would MJ even have a Facebook? She doesn't seem like the type. Apparently, she does, though, because, after a few minutes of searching, he finds her through Liz’s friend list. 

Her profile picture is a picture of her with the whole Decathlon team, minus him, after they won. He tries to not feel offended because after all, it was his own fault. She doesn't have many posts, the last one dating back to a couple months ago, wishing someone he assumes she's related to a happy birthday. 

He hovers over the “Add Friend” button and tries not to grimace too much after he clicks it. Now he just has to wait. And no he doesn't sit there and refresh the page a few times, waiting for her to accept it. 

After refreshing the page for the eleventh time, he decides that maybe he should go out. He hasn't been the entire day and it'll keep him busy. 

Standing and shutting his laptop, he goes over to his backpack and dumps it out on the bed, replacing what was once there with his suit and mask.

He’s two steps away from the door with an, “I’ll be back, May!” before she stops him.

“Did you ask?”

He turns, hand on the doorknob. “Yeah. Just waiting for her to reply.”

She smiles at that, “Okay. Be careful out there.”

“I will.”

\---

Peter hates sneaking back in. Ever since Aunt May saw him in the suit (which he will admit was not one of his finest moments) he’d just been coming through the front door. Tonight is not one of those nights. 

He had run into a few muggers in an alley trying to get a teenager to hand over his money. The kid had to be thirteen tops, and so he’d fought them off to the best of his ability, but not without them managing to get a few good hits in.

Peter would rather Aunt May not see any of the damage done to his body or face so he decided on the way back he’d sneak in through his window and rush to the bathroom. No blood seen, no harm done. 

He's wiping the blood from his eyebrow when his phone lights up with a Facebook notification.

_Michelle Jones has accepted your friendship request._

He feels himself smile, but swallows it back down and goes back to the task at hand. He really hopes that his limp isn't that noticeable.

Washing the rag, Peter watches the reddish tinted water go down the drain before grabbing at his phone and clicking the notification.

He stops for a second, trying to decide if messaging her right away seems desperate. Not really. Even if it is he doesn't think MJ’s the type to care that much. Shrugging, he types out the message. Then deletes it. Then types it again. And then deletes it again. He decides on just asking for her phone number because he’d rather the amount of time she spent looking at his profile picture be kept to a minimum.

She responds fairly quickly for it almost being midnight, and as he walks into the kitchen and towards the fridge to reheat some food, he types her number into his phone and saves it.

He takes another stab at typing the message and ends up with: hey do you wanna come over this saturday before the movie? to just hang out or whatever

As soon as he sends it, he feels like lighting his phone on fire and throwing the burnt piece of technology in the ocean. Instead, he leaves the phone on the counter and pulls some of the pizza May had left for him from the fridge.

He decides to stay at the microwave and watch the time tick down so he doesn't have to go back to his phone. He can't decide if her saying no or not responding at all would be worse. 

Opening the microwave before it can go off, he goes back to the table, grabbing his phone as he passes. 

He has three new messages.

_Peter? Is this you?_ _Yeah, I can swing by before the movie._  
_Also, send me a picture of you so I have it for your contact info._

He grins. She said yes. He has no clue how to react to the picture question though, or what picture to send so he sends a selfie of just the top half of his head. He regrets it immediately. A response comes in about .2 seconds after it delivers.

_Whatever, nerd. I'll get a better one this Saturday._

Peter can’t help but stare at the message for the next thirty seconds before swallowing down his smile and placing the phone on the table. God, he's screwed.

He's halfway done with the slice when another message comes through.

_BTW, I’m allergic to peanuts so make sure what we have for dinner doesn't have any of those lmao._

He types back a: _sure, no problem_ , and he can feel another stupid smile forming on his face.

MJ’s coming over this Saturday and she's allergic to peanuts. Nice.

\---

He's not freaking out. Pacing back and forth isn't a sign of anxiety, and May telling him to calm down isn't helping.

“I am calm.”

May raises an eyebrow at him but just goes back to stirring the pot of pasta. 

When there's a knock on the door, he stands up too fast and whacks his knee against the table. If May didn't notice his limp these past two days from the muggers, then she can definitely see it now as he makes his way through the apartment and towards the door.

He opens it and sees MJ standing there. 

“Hi,” he breathes.

“Hi,” she says back. Her hair is in her usual bun, and Peter has to stop himself from saying something stupid like, “you look nice.” This isn't a date. No matter what Ned said, this isn't a date.

“Are you gonna invite me in, or just stand there?” She smirks as she glides past him and into the apartment.

May is already making her way around the corner. “Hi, you must be Michelle. Peter talks about you all the time.”

Peter’s eyes bug out of his head, and as he stares at his aunt he makes a cut it out motion with his hand.

MJ laughs. “Yeah, I don't see why he would, but…” she glances back at him, and he whips his hand down back at his side to stand normally. Giving her an innocent smile, he barely hears Aunt May speak.

“Dinner’s almost done, and then I'll drive you guys to the movie. Play amongst yourselves.” She motions them past the kitchen and to Peter's bedroom. He couldn't be more embarrassed. He was just gonna die.

“Your aunt seems nice,” MJ says once they're standing in the middle of his room.

“Yeah. Yeah, she's the best.”

She's walking around his room, studying the different things he has hung up. Pictures of him and Ned as kids, science posters that he wishes he took down, a picture of him with his parents. Peter really hopes she doesn't mention that one. 

“You and Ned have been friends since you were kids?” She asks, looking over her shoulder at him.

“Mmhm.”

She makes a noise of acknowledgment before turning back around and staring at the pictures. She starts laughing suddenly, and a million possibilities race through his mind. He knows he doesn't have any embarrassing baby photos hung up so it can't be that. 

“You and Ned really are some of the biggest losers I know.” She holds the picture she's looking at up for him to see. He pales as he sees fifth grade Peter stare back at him in pajamas that he remembers wearing for six days straight and unbelievably greasy hair that really completes the look. 

“Did you guys know what showers were? Just a question.” She's still laughing as she hangs it back up. 

“It was the summer. No one showers every day during the summer.”

“Most people make it a habit of washing themselves at least once a week. But it looks like you were aiming for a record.” 

He rolls his eyes and she laughs again.

“So,” she sits on his desk chair, “How’s your summer going?”

Besides getting beaten up by a bunch of muggers and swinging from building to building via web? 

“Fine,” Peter says. “Kinda boring though.”

“Hmm.” 

“What about you?”

“Good. Pretty good. It’s nice not seeing Flash’s face every day.” 

He laughs at that. “Have to agree with you there.” 

He’s about to say more when May calls them into the kitchen. MJ leaves her bag on his desk and they make their way towards the kitchen. 

“I told you it was almost done.” She smiles at them both, making her way towards the pot of pasta. “The sauce is over there.” 

May’s talking to MJ and Peter’s just praying that nothing she says will embarrass him too much. 

“What about that Stark Internship?” He hears MJ ask. “Are you still doing that?” 

May glances at Peter out of the corner of her eye, twirling the pasta around her fork. 

“Uhh, yeah. Yeah, I am.” Peter says. “Might be spending a lot more time with Mr. Stark since it’s the summer and all.” 

MJ nods. “That’s cool.” 

They finish eating in silence, May adding a comment or two about Peter’s love life. Not at all subtle. 

He decides to go to the bathroom at that, wondering why his aunt has it out for him when he apologized for the whole Spider-Man thing at least a billion times. 

Staring at himself in the mirror, he tries to think of ways to get out of going to the movies. Say he threw up? Good, that could work. Climb out the window and not come back? Also a possibility. 

“Peter, will you get out here? The movie starts in forty-five minutes!” He hears Aunt May shout to him.

Okay, no time to escape, that’s fine. He’ll be fine. 

When he steps back into the kitchen, May’s doing the dishes and trying to shoo MJ back to her seat. “I got them, don’t worry. Go sit down.”

MJ raises her hands in surrender and makes her way to a seat across from Peter. 

They stare at each other for a second before she pulls out her phone, probably texting someone by the look of it. 

“Oh, Peter,” he looks over at his aunt, “I actually have to work tomorrow so no setting the house on fire.” 

He gives a tight lipped smile, “Won’t be a problem.”

“Parker,” he glances at MJ, who has her phone out and pointed to him. He can hear the shutter go off as she starts laughing. “Oh, man,” she says, “That one is too good. Definitely a keeper.” 

She tilts her head to look at him from the side of her phone and smiles. He can’t help but smile back.

\---

They’re twenty-eight minutes into the movie and Peter has no clue what’s going on. He’s too busy trying to figure out at what times he’d be able to grab popcorn without touching MJ’s hand or doing something equally embarrassing. 

He hears her voice in his ear, and wait what? He didn’t catch that, but she’s grinning at the screen so he chuckles quietly anyway. 

He can’t decide if he should be silently thanking Ned or silently cursing him instead. Probably thanking. After all, if he ended up saying no, there would have been no way they would’ve hung out at all this summer.

He doesn’t check to make sure if her hand’s in the popcorn and reaches in. His hand ends up lightly grazing hers. He braces himself for some offhand comment, maybe even a laugh, but she doesn’t say anything. Just keeps her eyes glued to the screen. He leans back in his seat a little, relaxing after that and actually snickering with MJ at the really bad parts of the movie. 

At one point, she puts the popcorn in the seat next to her and turns to face him. “This movie is way worse than I thought it was going to be.” She stands and walks past him. “I’m going to the bathroom, tell me what happens.”

As soon as MJ rounds the corner, he lets out a sigh. He didn’t think hanging out with her one on one like this would be that hard and yet here he was, questioning everything he said. He hates this crush. Wishing it would just go away, he reaches over MJ’s seat and grabs the popcorn, trying to pay attention to the movie. He supposes that if the whole having a crush thing on MJ won’t go away, he might as well enjoy it and embrace the time that he’s spending with her. 

When she makes her way back, almost stepping on his foot as she ambles her way to her seat, she leans her head close to his, “What did I miss?” 

“Uhh…” 

She snorts, grabbing the rim of the popcorn bucket, snatching it from him, “Not surprising. You’re not even paying attention.” 

“I am!” He exclaims.

“Huh uh.” 

The main character on screen is drunk, about to fall off a roof, when MJ’s arm grazes against Peter’s. “Your arm is taking up the entire armrest.”

“Sorry,” he mutters, placing his arm in his lap, hoping that she can’t see the red creeping up his cheeks due to the dark theater they’re in.

“I’m messing with you.” She rolls her eyes. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” 

She stares at himself for a couple seconds, “Oookay,” she says sarcastically. 

Peter sighs inwardly at himself. He can hide the fact that he’s Spider-Man but somehow can’t get a crush under control. Unbelievable. 

\---

They’re stepping out of the theater and waiting for May to pick them up when MJ says, “We don’t have to do this again.” Peter glances at her. “I mean if you don’t want to we don’t have to.”

“No, I do!”

“You do?”

“Yeah,” he nods his head. “It was just - I was feeling kinda sick in the theater earlier. 3D movies do that to me.”

“We weren’t watching a 3D movie.” 

Before she can say anything else, he gets a text. “Oh, look, May’s here.” 

“Yeah, but -”

“Really shouldn’t keep her waiting.” He rests a hand on the small of her back without thinking, guiding her in front of him and out of the theater. He hopes she doesn’t say anything about it. 

Peter lets her sit in the passenger seat since they’re dropping her off first and all, and before she gets out, she glances back at him. 

“So, you do -”

“Yes, MJ.” He says. “We should definitely hang out again. Summer break is a long time.” 

“Okay,” she says and Peter swears there’s a ghost of a smile there. “Thank you for the ride May.” 

“It’s not a problem, Michelle. I’ll be here anytime you need. You have my number and everything.” 

MJ smiles before shutting the car door and making her way up to the apartment building.

Peter stares until she gets inside safely, then clambers into the front seat. “You have her number?” He asks. 

May nods. “Jealous?” 

“No,” Peter says. “I have her number.” He shakes his head, “When did you even get it anyway?” 

“You were in the bathroom during dinner.” 

“Oh.” 

While he lies in bed that night, he thinks of MJ smiling. Smiling at him, smiling at the movie screen, smiling at anything. He closes his eyes and smiles back. 

\---

“We have a huge problem,” he says as he pushes Ned into his room and shuts the door.

“What? What did you do? Did she punch you?” 

“What? No. Nothing like that.”

“Then what?” Ned asks, bouncing on his bed. “What’s the big problem.”

“I actually like her. Like like-like her.”

“Oh,” Ned says.

Yeah. Oh. 

\---

“Maybe it’s not a bad thing.”

“It is a bad thing. It’s a very bad thing.”

“Why is it a bad thing?”

“Because!” Peter exclaims. “This is MJ. MJ that likes to read, and drink tea, and hates painting her nails because there’s no point when it chips off anyway.”

“I know who MJ is.”

“Exactly! How do you not get this is bad?” 

“I think you’re overreacting.” 

“She would probably kill me because I’m objectifying her. Oh, my God, am I objectifying her?” 

“Are you?”

“No.”

“Well then, there you go.” 

Ned stands up, slapping Peter’s back. “I really wouldn’t get this worked up over it. It might just be a crush on crack. Sooner or later it’ll lose the high and go away.”

“A crush on crack?” 

“I’m not good at analogies.” 

“That’s not an analogy.”

“Well, then I’m not good at English. That’s your girlfriend’s specialty.” 

“Ned.”

“I’m kidding!” 

Peter plops down at his desk and sighs. 

“Promise to make me the best man at your wedding?” 

Ned doesn’t even have to look to know how bad the glare is that Peter’s sending him. 

\---

Clearing his head is the first thing that Ned tells him to do so he decides to go out. Maybe that’ll do him some good, forget about MJ and the Problem, and yes the Problem deserves a capital P. 

May isn’t home right now, and so he grabs his backpack and hooks it over his shoulders before making his way to the elevator. 

If you ask him, he could possibly, maybe agree with Ned and say that the crush isn’t even that big of a deal. But it is a big deal, he knows that. The last crush he had was on Liz, and he was a complete bumbling idiot around her at all times. Now he can’t even be around MJ without stuttering out responses to her questioning glances.

They’ve texted a few times since they went to the movies, but it was only when she sent her different bad reviews she found about the movie they saw. He didn’t really know what to say, so he sent the crying-laughing faces and left it at that. That was a week ago. She hasn’t tried to text him since, and he knows that he should make the first move. Can practically feel his fingers itching to type out a message to her, but he has no clue what to say. 

He looks around, a quick sweep, before ducking down in an alley and tugging his shirt off while he simultaneously tries to slide off his shoes.

With a little less struggle than usual, his backpack is securely stuck to the side of the building, and his suit is fit snugly against his skin. 

“Hey Karen,” he says, as he climbs to the roof of the building to get a better view, “You got anything fun for me today?” 

The robotic voice rings in his ear. “Scanning,” the whole street is busy right now, there’s gotta be something. “And no targets in sight.” 

“Damn,” Peter says, kicking his foot lightly against the rooftop. 

“But how are you, Peter?” Karen asks. “It’s been awhile.”

“I'm alright, Karen, thanks.” 

“You seem distressed. Is there anything you would like to talk about?” 

He sits on the edge of the roof, letting his feet dangle. “It’s really not that big of a deal. There's just a girl.”

“Oh, Liz?”

“No, no not Liz.” 

“Do I know of her?”

“Her name’s MJ. Michelle.” 

“Michelle is the one that wasn’t stuck in the Washington Monument. I know Michelle.” 

“Yeah, she’s. She’s something.” He sighs happily, letting his back lie against the top of the roof. 

“Are you aware if she feels the same way?”

“No,” Peter says. “But I really doubt it.”

“How come?”

“She’s just - she’s the greatest. She’s smart, and funny, and pretty. And I don’t think she sees me like that.” 

He’s about to continue when Karen interrupts his train of thought, “Peter. Do you hear that?”

“Huh?” He leaps to his feet, crouching down to look at the sea of people walking on the sidewalk. 

“Southwest, there seems to be some sort of loud activity going on.” 

“Oh - yeah, that. That’s just the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. Happens every year, Karen.” 

“Oh.”

Peter decides he might as well go around the city, see if there’s anything for him to do anywhere. As he’s swinging though, he hears Karen’s voice in his ear. “Peter, look.” He turns his head and almost forgets to let another string of web out of his shooter because of what he sees.

MJ is on a swing at the park, book in hand as a little girl swings next to her. She’s never said anything about having any siblings. Maybe she’s babysitting? 

Doesn’t matter if she is or isn’t, it’s not like he can ask anyway. She’s not stupid and would definitely recognize his voice if he were to say anything to her. 

“Alright, Karen. We might as well just go home. I don’t think anything interesting is gonna happen today.” 

“Don’t you want to say hi?” 

“No! No, I can’t. Let’s just go.”

He can’t even clear his mind of her like Ned told him to do. He was screwed.

\---

Popcorn is being thrown at Peter’s head and there’s really nothing he can do about it. 

“Your movie choices suck.” He hears Ned say, as he takes a few more kernels out to toss at his best friend. Peter tries making the best of it, catching a few in his mouth, but most bouncing off his face and to the carpet.

“I agree,” MJ says. “You couldn’t have picked anything better?” 

“What would you have picked,” Peter asks, tossing a piece of popcorn that landed on his shirt back at her. “Citizen Kane or something like that?” 

She snorts, “No. It definitely would’ve been better than Baby’s Day Out, though? Seriously where did you even find this movie?” 

“It used to be one of my favorites.” 

Ned and MJ share a glance, and wow, he has the worst friends possible. 

“Alright, well.” Ned starts. “I’m going to bed. You kids don’t have too much fun now.” 

MJ flips him off as he hands her the bowl of popcorn. 

It’s not much later, two minutes tops, it seems, before Ned’s passed out on the couch face down.

Peter laughs, reaching behind him, and throwing the orange blanket over Ned’s snoring body.

Ned had asked if he could spend the night, and Peter said yes. What a surprise it was for him when MJ ended up right behind Ned, pillow in hand and a slight smirk on her face.

“Whatcha thinking about?” MJ asks, tossing a piece of popcorn into her own mouth.

“How you crashed our sleepover.” 

“Oh, haha.” She says, reaching behind her and hitting Peter with her pillow. “So funny.” 

Peter only grins at her before turning his eyes back towards the screen. 

“Come on.” He hears her whisper.

“What?” He glances at her, away from the baby crawling across a construction site. 

“Let's goooooo,” she whines playfully. “Up to the roof. I do it all the time in my building.” 

He’s not able to say anything else because she’s grabbing at his sleeve and pulling him towards the door. 

“It’s even better in the summer.” She says. 

“What is?” 

“Being on the roof. Duh.”

The elevator, unfortunately, only goes up to the twenty-third floor, so they have to trudge up the stairs for the next two. He’s barefoot, MJ’s holding onto his hand, and they’re about to be on the roof of his apartment building. When did his life get this amazing? Maybe he was just dreaming? If MJ kisses him in the next five minutes then he’s definitely dreaming. 

They make their way towards the door, and Peter really hopes that Ned doesn’t wake up. The amount of conclusions he’d jump to would be unbearable. 

The door swings open, and they both step outside. MJ’s hair is down for the first time in all the time he’s known her. He thinks about telling her she looks pretty, but she’s already speaking.

“Only thing that sucks about this is not being able to see the stars.” 

“You’re a stars fan?”

“Oh, yeah, totally.” She smiles. “They’re infinite. Pretty cool, in my opinion.” She makes her way over to the edge of the building and sits down. “You comin’?” 

He follows, plopping down next to her. The only thing he can see is the smog in the sky. 

“I wouldn’t even mention it. I could go on about pollution levels for days.” 

He smiles. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

She pays him no attention. “Did you know,” she starts, “there are about four billion stars in this galaxy alone?” 

“I didn’t.” 

She rolls her eyes as she bumps her shoulder against his. “Liar. You’re like the smartest guy I know.”

“Not that smart. I managed a C in Advanced Algebra II.” 

“Wasn’t that what we studied every day in the library for the last two weeks of school?”

“Yeah.” 

“So what were you doing instead of paying actual attention to what I was saying.” He figures that saying, “staring at you” wouldn’t go over very well.

“Who knows.” 

“You’re unbelievable. You know that?” 

He nods along and she lets out a breathy laugh before swinging her legs back and forth.

“So…” he starts. “Stars?” 

“Yep, stars. I used to have those glow-in-the-dark stickers that you could stick on your ceiling. I would just lie there and stare at them all night some nights.” 

“Do you wanna be an astronaut?” 

“Hmm. I don’t know, maybe. Should probably figure it out soon though.”

“You’d be good at anything you tried.” He says, his tone suddenly serious. 

“You think so, huh?”

“I know so.” 

She laughs as she glances at him. “You’re too funny, Parker.” She pauses, head tilted up to the sky. “At least you have that Stark Internship. Nothing to worry about there. You’ll probably get a job working for him after high school.”

“Maybe, I don’t know.”

“Well, if not then there’s loads of other stuff to do. I bet you’d make a great engineer. Or something else that requires an IQ of 400,” she snorts to herself. 

“Are we about to have existential crises about the future at,” he looks at his bare wrist, “one in the morning on a roof?” 

“Possibly.” 

He grins at her as she grins back. “But I’m serious. You could do anything you wanted, you’re that smart. It’s kinda mind-boggling. And I’m only being this nice because it’s one AM. If you tell anyone aka Ned, I’ll deny it.” She looks away from him and back up at the sky. 

The clouds must move or something because all of a sudden moonlight is shining on MJ, and she looks so unbelievably beautiful at that moment. 

And then Peter has the thought that he wants to tell her she looks beautiful every day and that - that’s probably not a good sign. The way her smile makes his pulse quicken while her voice washes over him like a calming wave. She’s basically everything good in the world encapsulated and he knew he shouldn’t have let his mind wander into this territory in the first place because now he’s pretty sure he’s in love. He doesn’t know what it necessarily feels like, maybe he’d ask May, but with MJ, he feels safer. Like it’s not him, but her with the super powers.

“You okay, Peter? You look a little pale.”

He swallows and shakes his head, almost beaming at her. “Must be the moonlight.”

\---

Peter offers to walk her to the subway the next day since May is working. He really doesn’t mean to get on the subway with her, but that’s where they’re at.

“You didn’t have to come this whole way with me.” He knows that. 

“I know. I don’t mind.” 

She smiles at him when they come to a stop. People all around them shove to get off and MJ gets pushed a little too hard, slipping a bit, but Peter has a hand on her hip before it could go from bad to worse. 

His grip tightens slightly as more people shuffle past, and okay, maybe this is worse. 

“Thanks,” she says when the door closes, but she doesn’t move back to where she was. Instead, she stays where she is, closer to him than before. 

He tells himself it doesn’t mean anything. 

\--- 

“Okay, so you didn’t have to follow me onto the subway, but you definitely didn’t have to walk me home.” 

“It’s a scary world out here. Besides I have to wait awhile to take the subway back anyway.” 

She quirks an eyebrow at him, “Are you saying I can’t handle myself?” 

“No. No! No, I’m not I was just uh -” They’ve stopped dead in their tracks before MJ laughs. 

“I’m just fucking with you, calm down.” 

She starts walking again, and he darts after her making sure he’s in step. “So are you staying over for dinner?” 

He pauses. “I won’t. Not if you don’t want me to.”

“Do you want to? It’s a simple question, Parker.” 

“Sure.”

“Okay.” 

They’re making their way up the stairs, she lives on the fourth floor, and towards her door when she stops and looks at him. “My dad can be an asshole. If he is just ignore him, okay?” 

“Okay.” 

She swings the door open, and Peter instantly hears a, “MJ? Is that you?” come from the kitchen.

“Yeah, Mom, it’s me. I brought a guest,” She waves Peter inside and closes the door with her booted foot. “I hope that’s okay.” 

“Of course it is,” MJ’s mom pokes her head around the corner. “Oh, it’s a boy!” 

“Mom!” MJ says, almost sounding like a squeak.

“Oops, sorry,” her mom says. Peter grins at MJ. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”

“Sorry about that,” MJ mutters. “I don’t bring a lot of people over.” 

“So I must be special then?” 

“Yeah, sure.” She rolls her eyes, toeing her boots off and leaving them by the door. 

She’s about an inch shorter without them but still taller than Peter. 

“Is Dad here?” She asks, motioning for Peter to follow her to the kitchen.

“He’s not. He’s at work right now.”

Peter’s not sure if he’s just imagining MJ’s shoulders untensing. Either way, he scooches his chair a little closer to hers which causes her to smile. He loves her smile. 

\---

The three are laughing together in the kitchen, listening to MJ’s mom tell stories about her worst dates gone wrong when he feels his phone buzz. 

He pulls it out as inconspicuously as he can and catches a glimpse of a text from May. He reads, “ _Where are you? Get home soon_ ,” accompanied with two kissy face emojis.

He slides it back in his pocket and leans back. Both of them are staring at him with the same look on their faces. It’s kind of creepy. 

“I’m really sorry I can’t stay for dinner, but,” MJ’s mom cuts him off. 

“Don’t worry about it, MJ can just bring you over another time.” She turns to go back and stir the pot. “It was lovely meeting you, Mr. Parker.” 

“You too, Mrs. Jones.” 

MJ’s already standing by the doorway to the kitchen, so he stands and follows. 

“Thanks for introducing me to your mom.” 

“It’s not a big deal. Besides she likes you so.” 

“Yeah,” he trails off. “I should really get going, though. I’ll text you later.”

He opens the door, and she grabs the knob as he steps out, “Sure.” 

Peter has the overwhelming urge to lean over and kiss her on the forehead. Instead, he gives a quick, “bye,” before turning down the hall. 

When he’s at the stairs, he turns his head, just to get a quick look over his shoulder. MJ’s still standing there, and she smiles, gives him a small wave before stepping inside and shutting the door. 

JULY

“On a scale of 1-10, how bad would it be if I was, I don’t know.” 

Ned glances down at him from his bed, “What are you going on about?” 

He sighs, his hands sliding over his face, “This is bad.”

“Is this about MJ?”

“That obvious?”

Ned shrugs. “You’ve gotten easier to read over the years.”

“Yeah, it’s about MJ.” Peter’s currently on the floor of his room, staring up at his ceiling and wondering how he got himself into this situation.

“Well,” Ned starts. “What about her?”

“I hink em im luf wif her.”

“What was that? Can’t really hear you with your hands over your mouth.” 

His hands drop to his sides. “I think I’m in love with her,” he says slowly, articulating the words and getting a feel for them in his mouth. They don’t give him the bitter taste he thought they would. 

“You’re… serious?” 

“Why would I be joking about this, Ned?” 

“I don’t know. You think puns about physics are funny.”

“They are funny - that’s not even. That’s not even the point!” 

“Are you gonna tell her?” 

“No. I don’t think so.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because I’d rather her always be my friend than risk it by telling her and losing what we have.”

“Do you think there’s a chance she might like you back?” Ned asks, throwing a ball in the air just to catch it again. 

Peter’s hands slide down his face, “Did she say something to you?”

“No. I’m just saying.” 

He groans. “She doesn’t feel the same way. She’s MJ, she’s basically like. The sun and I’m just - y’know.” 

“Not the sun?” Ned suggests. 

“Exactly,” Peter says.

“Well,” Ned says. “She’s going on vacation soon so maybe the feelings will go away?” 

“Maybe.” He mutters to himself. 

“Anyway, are you gonna help me build this or are you just gonna mope there all day?” 

Peter grins and pulls himself up. “Yeah, I’ll help. Move over.” 

\---

This has got to be the worst situation he’s gotten himself into. Almost getting killed by the Vulture? Nope. Falling in love with MJ? Doesn’t compare. No, right now he’s miles away from home, both web-shooters broken, and he’s pretty sure a few ribs might be too. 

He limps his way into an alley, and thanks a higher being that he decided to bring his backpack with him this time. 

He pulls out his clothes, wincing as he does. Stupid guys that way almost 300 pounds that can manage to stomp on his wrists, making sure to damage the web-shooters, hopefully not, beyond repair. Peter manages to take the suit off, but he’s breathing heavily by then, the blood dripping down from the cut on his forehead to the pavement below. 

He leans against a dumpster, trying to catch his breath. Okay, alright, you can do this Parker. You learned to dress yourself when you were like three. You can do it now. He grabs his jeans, and - why did he decide on jeans it’s so humid out - slides them up one leg at a time, somehow managing to not cry out in too much pain. He really underestimated those guys back there. And they got away. It was pointless. 

He goes for his shirt next, trying not to cradle his broken ribs. They're possibly just bruised - he’s hoping they’re just bruised, but who knows. He isn’t a doctor. As he’s lifting the shirt over his head, he really starts regretting never putting that tracker back in his suit. Such a dumb idea. 

Peter sits down on the pavement. Just a second, just one to get it together. He grabs at his shoes, tugging one on and then the other. After tying them both, he tries to stand, wobbling a little as he goes. 

He knows where he is. He was around here just last week. MJ’s apartment building has to be only a couple more blocks. He’ll climb up the fire escape and sleep there for the night. Then call May to pick him up in the morning. He has it all figured out, really he does. 

It’s when he gets to her apartment building, he realizes that no. He doesn’t have it figured out. There are too many windows to tell which is hers so he guesses he’ll just guess, peek in, and see. He knows she’s on the fourth floor, though. That he knows for sure. 

He starts making his way up, and really he’s pretty proud of himself for only slipping twice. 

Unfortunately, it takes him seven tries before he makes it to MJ’s window. She’s sitting at her desk, probably writing. He really doesn’t want to scare her. 

He knocks anyway, and she jumps, whipping around with the journal in hand as if it were a weapon. She squints at him, and he sees the way her mouth forms the word, “Peter?” 

She gets up from her seat, jogging towards the window before she opens it. “Peter, oh, my God! What the hell happened to you?!”

He winces, “I’m okay. I just - I needed a place to stay, and I knew you lived around here so.” 

She pulls him in, trying to ignore the way her heart stutters slightly when he groans in protest. “Here,” MJ mumbles. “Sit.” 

He plops down on her bed, feeling a little dizzy. That was a huge climb up. 

“Stay here. Don’t move, I’ll be right back.” 

He hasn’t been in her room before, and it’s not what he expected. It’s bare except for the wall scattered with pictures. 

There are ones of her and her family, some of her and the Decathlon team, and even one of him. Just him hung up. It doesn’t look familiar so he has no clue where she got it, but it looks like his kitchen? Maybe his kitchen - god his head hurts right now. 

He can barely make out MJ coming back into the room, wet rag in one hand and ice pack in the other. 

“Okay, um.” She pauses. “I’m not exactly sure how much help I’m gonna be, but I’ve read a few things so.” 

“You would,” Peter says quietly, his chuckle turning into a cough. 

“I’m just gonna wipe the blood from your face, okay?” 

He nods, and feels her hands at his sides, tilting him upright. He tries not to wince because it’s not like she was the one who hurt him in the first place.

“Sorry,” she mutters. 

“It’s not…” he trails off, leaning forward a little bit. The rag is cool on his skin, and he’s grateful for it. 

“God, what did you get yourself into? What happened?” 

“I’ll tell you, later,” he mutters. “Just take care of me first, okay? Please.” 

MJ bites her lip. Usually she’d make some comment, but instead, she just whispers, “Okay.” 

She tries her best throughout it all, asking where it hurts and looking up on Google what she can do. Peter ends up with both of his wrists wrapped, his ribs wrapped, and the blood on his face completely wiped away. 

“I can take the floor,” MJ mutters, grabbing a pillow from her bed. 

“MJ, no, you can -” 

“Peter, I really appreciate the whole, ‘I’m a gentleman’ thing, but please just stay where you are, okay?” He leans his head back down and scooches to the side. 

“I’m not letting you sleep on the floor. The bed is big enough for,” he trails off, “Big enough for both of us.” 

She scrutinizes him, walking over to his side. Her hand wipes through the sweaty strands of hair that are stuck to his forehead. “I really hope you don’t have a concussion.” 

“M’fine.” He mumbles. Peter does his best to grab at her hand that’s running through his hair, curling his fingers around hers, “Sleep, okay?” 

“Okay,” she whispers. He lets go of her hand, only because he has to. When she makes her way around the bed and slips in on top of the covers, facing him, he grabs it again. 

“I’m sorry.” He says.

“It’s okay,” she replies. “Sleep. We’ll talk about it later.” 

Peter’s asleep halfway through her sentence, and if MJ stays awake until five in the morning, just watching him breathe, well, he doesn’t have to know.

\---

He shouldn’t leave like this. It’s a dick move, and he knows it, but he needs to get home or Aunt May will kick his ass. And after last night, he really doesn’t wanna go through that again. 

Peter decides to leave her a note, notes are good, right? Reaching for the nightstand, he grabs his phone and calls May. 

She answers on the first ring. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Aunt May. I’m sorry, I was gonna text you last night, but -”

“Peter Parker, you cannot do that. I was up all night worrying and only fell asleep around three when MJ sent me a text saying that you were with her and -”

“MJ texted you?”

“Yes, MJ texted me. You didn’t.”

“What did she say?” 

“Just that you two were together. Peter, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m -” He glances over at MJ’s sleeping form and closes his eyes. “I’m fine. Can you just pick me up? I need a ride and I don’t wanna wake her.” 

“I’m already on my way,” she says. “We’re talking about this when we get home.”

“Of course.” He agrees, not at all sarcastic. “I’ll see you.”

“I love you, Peter.”

He swallows at that, trying to hold back tears. God, he almost died last night. “I love you too, Aunt May.” 

\---

Crawling out the fire escape turns out to be more difficult than crawling in, but eventually, he makes his way to the ground. 

He’s sitting on the porch when May pulls up, and before he can even stand she’s out of the car and making her way over to him. Once he’s up, he’s instantly pulled into a hug. Trying not to wince, he hugs her back, and if he feels the sleeve of his shirt become a little wet from tears, he doesn’t mention it. 

“I’m fine, Aunt May. Promise.”

“Promise?!” She exclaims. “You have a gash on your forehead, a black eye, two wrists that are both wrapped, how is this fine?” 

“MJ took care of me, I’m fine, I swear. Can we just go home?” 

It takes her a moment, but eventually, she deflates. “Let’s go.” 

He makes his way into the passenger seat and tries not to think about how pissed MJ will be when she wakes up. 

\---

It’s only a couple hours after as he’s in bed when he gets a text from MJ.

_Are you okay??????_

He texts back that he’s okay and a quick apology for disappearing, but his aunt had come to pick him up. 

Another buzz comes in: _It’s fine, I was just worried._

He smiles at it slightly before slipping back into sleep. 

\---

When he wakes up, MJ’s at his desk, and he honestly feels as though he may still be dreaming.

“What are you doing here?” She startles and turns around, but as soon as she sees him awake, the tension melts from her shoulders. 

“I brought you soup. It might not be the best because I made it, not my mom, and honestly, soup might’ve not been the best idea anyway considering it’s the middle of July, but I just thought that it would -”

“MJ. Thank you, really. For the soup, and - and for everything.”

She sits on the edge of his bed. “Are you gonna tell me what happened?” 

He closes his eyes and tilts his head back. “It’s - it’s not that important. I’m okay, that’s what’s important.”

“Peter. You came to me bruised and bloodied and you’re just not gonna tell me what happened?” 

“It’s not that I don’t want to, MJ. I can’t. It’s complicated.” 

“Complicated.” She repeats, before scoffing, eyes landing on his floorboards. “I’m just trying to understand what happened.” 

“Please, trust me when I say that it’s not important.” 

“But it is important!” She shouts, darting up and off the bed. “You almost died, you came to me, and I was so terrified that I was going to have to watch you die, do you get that?” 

“I’m sorry, I -” 

“Peter,” she stops. “I just want to know what’s going on.” 

He thinks about telling her because really, how bad could it be? But Tony Stark knows, Ned knows, Aunt May knows. And they’re all at risk. He can’t put MJ at risk. 

“Nothing.”

“Nothing.” She looks up at the ceiling, and Peter hopes she’s not blinking back tears because he doesn’t know what he’ll do then.

“Okay, well when this nothing suddenly turns into a something, and it’s a something that you would actually like to tell who I thought was your good friend MJ, then you can give me a call.” 

She’s out of the door before he can say anything else, closing it quietly and for some reason it makes him feel so much worse than it would’ve if she slammed it. 

\---

“She’s gone,” Ned tells him. 

“What?” He shoots up, but the pain to his ribs pins him back down against the mattress. 

“On vacation, you freak. She’s not dead.” 

“You can’t do that, Ned, okay?” 

“Okay.”

“So what happened. Why is she pissed at you?”

“I won’t tell her what happened.”

“You won’t tell her about,” he makes web shooting noises.

Peter smiles a little. “Yeah, that. I won’t tell her about that.” 

“Yeah, I…” Ned starts, “Don’t have a suggestion for that.” 

Peter nods. He kinda figured. 

\---

He tries texting her at least ten times before she responds.

_What do you want?  
And are you okay?_

He replies with an: _I’m okay. I just wanted to talk to you._

It takes about fourteen minutes before her reply comes through. It’s a simple: _Well I don’t want to talk to you. I’m turning my phone off for the rest of the vacation for some fun family bonding. If I need to tell you anything, I’ll figure out a way to do it. Bye._

Peter can practically hear the sarcasm dripping from the “fun family bonding,” and if he had to guess, he would say her dad’s probably making sure her phone is off. 

He messages Ned: _How long until MJ comes back?_

The reply comes fairly quickly: _11 more days. Hang in there, spider guy._

Peter lets his head fall back on the pillow, and his phone fall out of his hand. This was gonna be a long eleven days. 

\---

After four more days of lying there, May finally lets him off bed rest, letting him move around the apartment. 

She asks how MJ’s doing, and it must be obvious because her face drops. 

“Oh, honey, what happened?” 

He shrugs. “I wouldn’t tell her what happened when I got hurt, and she got upset.”

“You have to realize, she’s just trying to help.” 

“I know,” Peter replies. “I know that, but Aunt May, I can’t put MJ in danger.” He pauses. “I love her too much to put her in harm’s way willingly.” 

She gives him a soft smile and sits down next to him, pushing the hair from his forehead. “I know it’s hard. But I’m sure she’ll find her way back to you. You two have this - sort of connection.” She states. 

“I hope so,” he says, leaning his head against her shoulder. 

“You’ll be fine.”

\---

The next week passes in a blur. Peter wasn’t allowed outside as Spider-Man, Ned came over every few days, May fussed over him, but there was no MJ. No texts, no calls, no anything. Ned had told him he hadn’t heard from her, but Peter had a hard time believing it. If MJ didn’t want Ned to tell Peter, he wouldn’t. He was sincere like that. 

When Ned comes into his room with a smile on his face, he knows. “She’s back?” 

Ned nods, hopping up on Peter’s bed. 

Peter already has his phone out, typing a message: _Can we talk?_

He’s staring at the screen and has to stop himself from doing anything too rash when he sees the check mark pop up next to his message.

It’s another few minutes until Ned clears his throat. 

“Hey, Pete.” Peter turns, looking over at his best friend. “MJ wanted me to tell you, “ _no, and tell him to stop asking._ ” 

Peter groans, letting his head fall onto his desk. He was screwed. 

AUGUST

“I’ll be back before school starts,” Ned says over the phone. 

“It just sucks, you know you -”

“- Are the only one distracting you from the MJ shaped hole in your heart? I know.”

“I was gonna say my best friend, but sure that works too.” 

“Don’t worry about it, she’ll get to it eventually. Just give her time. You know, MJ hasn’t let anybody in, and she’d rather not get hurt.” 

“Did she tell you that?”

“Possibly.” He says. “Look I gotta go, I’ll text you when I land, yeah?” 

“Yeah, okay. Bye, Ned.” 

“Bye. And good luck!” 

Peter hangs up his phone and tosses it on the bed. 

He glares at it, willing it to do something when it does just that, lighting up with a message from MJ. 

He practically dives towards it, unlocking the screen, and ignoring the fact that he might just have telekinetic powers now?

The message brightens his screen: _Can I come over tonight?_

He types out an, “ _of course,_ ” without thinking and sends it. 

When he doesn’t get another message back, he’s not that surprised. 

\---

There’s a knock on the door, and it could either be May with groceries or MJ with - with everything that Peter’s needed for these past few weeks. 

He takes a deep breath before opening the door. 

It’s like she somehow got even more gorgeous while she was gone. “Hi,” he breathes out. 

“Hi,” she replies. “Are you gonna invite me in, or just stand there?” Peter moves over, letting her walk through. 

“So,” she starts. “I’ve been thinking that maybe I don’t need to know exactly what’s going on. I just need to know, you’re safe, right? You’re not a drug dealer that owes someone or something?” 

“No, no! I’m not a drug dealer. Swear.” 

“Okay,” she says. She looks around the kitchen before her eyes find him again. “I missed you.” She almost whispers. 

His shoulders sag in relief. “I missed you too. So much, MJ.” 

“Are you staying?” He asks. 

“If you want me to.” 

“I do. You can just hang out in my room, I’ll make you something to eat.” 

“Okay,” she smiles and turns. Peter can feel himself smile too, and he hopes it never goes away. 

They’re okay. It worked out, she just needed time. May was right. So was Ned. Everything's fine now. He lets himself laugh a little. They’re fine. 

He dumps noodles into the pot, stirs it a few times, before darting towards his room. If she’s staying, he wants to spend as much time with her as possible. 

Slowing to a stop, he regrets ever letting her into his room and curses himself for being so stupid. 

MJ’s standing there with his mask in her hands, staring at him with wide eyes. 

“I knew you were hiding something from me.” She says, no emotion left in her voice. 

“MJ -” He takes a step forward.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“I - People that know get hurt.” She shakes her head. 

“I thought you trusted me? I thought we were friends, but I -”

“No, MJ, you are my friend. One of my best, okay? So, please, just let me explain.”

“So when you came crawling through my window, bleeding all over my carpet, it was because of this?” She lifts the mask up to him before throwing it to the floor. 

“I - I mean, yes, but -”

“Peter, I just. I don’t get why you didn’t tell me. Who else knows? Have they gotten hurt?” 

“Well, I mean, no, but -” 

“So, I was just kept in the dark? Wouldn’t it be safer for me to know?”

“MJ, please, I just. I was trying to protect you because I -” 

“Peter, I don’t. I can’t listen to any more lies, okay?" She sounds tired and her eyes are glistening as she slides her way past him and to the door. 

He doesn’t try to stop her.

\---

It’s been four days and she hasn’t answered his messages. 

Ned is only silent on the phone before trying to change the subject. 

May tells him that she just needs time before trying to change the subject. 

He tells himself he’s not a bad friend and was only trying to keep her safe before trying to change the subject.

\---

He’s woken up at 2:44 in the morning and sees that she’s calling him. He barely lets himself even open his eyes before he presses the button to accept. 

“Hello?”

“Can you meet me right now?”

“Yeah, where are you?” 

“On my roof,” she laughs slightly. It goes straight to his chest, his heart warming at the sound of it. “Bring the suit if you have to, just. Find a way up here.” She hangs up before he can respond. 

He’s not necessarily allowed to take the suit out again yet, but he’s figured it’s been long enough. Almost a month’s time. He was able to fix the web-shooters, make them nearly indestructible so, hopefully, he won’t have to worry about that anymore.

The suit still fits snugly on him, and he’s out in the warm air before the clock hits 2:50. 

\--- 

MJ’s in an oversized Midtown School of Science & Technology hoodie, and black sleep shorts. 

He’s on a roof, two roofs over, and she looks so beautiful, just sitting there. He really doesn’t know what he’ll do if she doesn’t forgive him. He can’t imagine his life without her. Without her throwing crumpled up pieces of paper at him during class, or without those soft smiles that he’s pretty sure are only reserved for him. 

Peter makes her way over to him, pulling off the mask, “MJ?” 

She turns, jumping a little as she does. “You have to stop sneaking up on me,” she lets out a breathy laugh before getting up. 

“Okay.” She says, wiping her hands on her shorts. “I might’ve overreacted.”

“No, you -” 

MJ holds up a hand. “Let me finish, okay?” He nods. “I just. I care about you. And when I figured out that you were running around risking your life with me being the only one that didn’t know, I was just upset. And hurt.”

“I didn’t tell you because I -”

“Wanted to protect me, I know.” She smiles softly at him. “I do care about you, Peter. A lot more than I thought I would and... I don’t even know how to say this.” 

Peter takes a step closer to her as she starts staring at her hands.

“I mean, I can go on and on about the power imbalances between men and women in our society, but I can’t -” 

“MJ?” She glances up at him. “Can I kiss you?” 

She breaks out in a smile, and nods, already in his space as his hands go to her hips. They lean in at the same time, and Peter could scream because he’s kissing her. He’s kissing the girl that he loves on a roof at three in the morning, and nothing could be better at this moment. 

When she pulls away, hands resting on his collarbone, he says, breathless, “I love you.”

She smiles again. “I know.” He steps back a little at that because she knew? This entire time? Or was it for a few weeks? And, “I love you too,” and it really doesn’t matter. 

Peter smiles, kisses her again, just because he can before pulling away. “I should go. Aunt May would kill me if I wasn’t in bed.”

“Okay,” she says, the smile still on her face. She’s beautiful. 

“You’re beautiful.” 

She laughs, “And you’re funny.” She pushes him away a bit, “Go home, Parker.” 

He kisses her on the cheek before walking to the edge of the roof. As he gives her a salute, he shoots out a web at a street light before swinging his way home. 

He goes to bed that night happier than he’s been in a long time. 

\---

“Hey, Aunt May? Is it okay if MJ comes over? As, uh, my girlfriend?”

May glances up from the couch. “Well, it’s about time.” She says. “It’s alright with me. Just no funny business.”

“May!” 

\---

Ned comes back from vacation with only one week of summer left. 

When Peter tells him about MJ, he just rolls his eyes. “See what did I say? What did I guarantee you at the beginning of summer, huh?”

Peter only smiles at his best friend before saying it. “Thank you.” 

Ned grins, “You’re welcome.” He glances around the room, “Okay, now help me get this summer homework done because we only have a week left until school, and I haven’t started any of it.” 

\--- 

Peter hates the subway. But he loves MJ so he guesses it balances out in a way. 

“Ready for junior year?” He asks his girlfriend. And he’ll never get tired of saying that. She’s his girlfriend.

She rolls her eyes, “Yeah, getting up at six in the morning everyday rocks my world.” 

“It’s not so bad. At least I get to see you.” 

“You’re too cheesy sometimes.” She takes a sip of her tea to hide her grin.

He walks her to her locker, claiming that his class is this way anyway, but when he stands by her, not at all walking away in the direction of said class, she glances over at him. 

“My class is that way,” she jabs her thumb behind her. 

“I know,” he says, “See you at lunch?” 

“Mmhmm.” She acknowledges, only looking up when his lips meet hers

And as MJ kisses him softly before pulling away and turning towards the direction of her class, tea in one hand, a book in the other, he comes to the conclusion that this year will be a lot better than his last.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on [twitter](https://twitter.com/tommysholIand) and [tumblr](http://tomdayas.co.vu/) come talk to me about petermj


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